THE PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
Amos Chapter 5
GOD WARNS BEFORE HIS WRATH
Amos 5:1-4
Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
2 "Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again,
deserted in her land, with no one to lift her."
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
"The city that marches out a thousand strong for Israel
will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left."
Amos, a shepherd, and a contemporary of Isaiah was called by God to prophesy
to Israel their fall from grace and their destruction. Starting in Chapter 1 of Amos
God announced the punishment of the ungodly nations around Israel. God held
them accountable for their ungodliness.
In Chapter 3, Amos prophesied to Israel their destruction because of their ungodliness.
Before entering the promised land. God gave Israel His commands to worship Him
along with the promise of success and prosperity. Israel rejected God and worshiped the idol
gods of the surrounding nations.
God called Israel a virgin for the righteousness they were commanded to display before
the nations of the world. Israel prostituted themselves by the worship of idol gods.
The death of the nation was their own doing. Amos announced that only one-tenth
of the nation would survive. The nations of the gods they idolized would be their downfall.
SIN SHOULD BRING REPENTANCE, THEN RESTORATION
Amos 5:4-6
4 This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
"Seek me and live; 5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing."
6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
Even though Israel sinned against God, His grace and mercy was available to
them.
They had abandoned God, but He had not abandoned them. They were given His
promised wrath for their disobedience, but also a way back to Him. All they had to
do was to seek the face of the Lord and live. If they continued in their
ungodliness the 10 tribes of Judah would be destroyed. And Bethel named the
house of God would not survive. There was no defense against God’s wrath.
GOD REMINDS YOU OF HIS POWER
Amos 5:7-10
7 You who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground
8 (he who made the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns blackness into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land —
the Lord is his name—
9 he flashes destruction on the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin),
God reminded Israel of His limitless creative powers.
The same creative powers would be used to destroy the
stronghold cities that the nations built would be destroyed
if Israel refused to turn to God.
We have a choice, follow God and live, or follow the world
and die.
HE MAKES KNOWN YOUR SINS
Amos 5:10-13
10 you hate the one who reproves in court and despises him who tells the truth.
11 You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. 13 Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
God sees all. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows all our sins.
Not only did Israel reject God for idol worship, but they mistreated and abused
their own people.
The leaders of Israel perverted the truth and the rich took advantage of the poor
for their gain. They showed no empathy or sympathy for each other.
They took on the habits of the ungodly nations around them. They broke the
command of love.
The men who knew better, kept silent as evil progressed in the nation.
We have a responsibility to point out our sins and proclaim the
righteousness of the Lord. If the truth is not taught, the next generation
will not know it and be worse than the last generation.
The US supreme court took prayer out of schools in June 1962. The current generation have no concept of the power of prayer or respect for God or man. I think the
constant rise of violence in America is do to our lack of true worship, praise and
prayer to the Lord in our schools and homes.
GOD GIVES CHANCES TO REPENT
Amos 5:14-15
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.
God is patient and tolerates our sins for a long time. He gives us
ample time to repent, ask for forgiveness and return to Him.
God does not want any of His chosen to perish. He seeks to
bless us out of His abundance so we live a life of peace and joy.
Even in our worst, God looks out for us. He pities our worst
with the chance of restoration. If only we can recognize our sins
and repent, His mercy allows for restoration of fellowship with Him.
God knows that some of us will repent, but most will not. The
remnant of the faithful will carry out His plan.
GOD WILL REMIND YOU OF THE SEVERITY OF HIS WRATH
Amos 5:16-18
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
"There will be wailing in all the streets
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through your midst,"
says the Lord.
The Bible is a record of God’s punishment of the nation of Israel.
The pain of God’s wrath will be real. It will not be
make-believe. Everyone who refuses to return to God
will experience a time of great sorrow.
We do well to listen to God’s warnings and return to
Him. He is waiting for our repentance.
IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO REPENT, DON’T WORRY
Amos 5:18-20
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
That day will be darkness, not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light —
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
It will be a glorious day when Jesus comes back and receives His Church to live eternity with
Him. Those who claim Jesus, but will not accept Him have no hope but eternal damnation.
Why would a criminal wish to get out of jail when he plans to continue his criminal
activities and end up back in jail with a worse sentence?
Why would a churchgoer hope for the second coming of Christ when he refuses to accept
the one who gives eternal life? The second coming of Christ will be the wrath of God for all non
-believers which is eternity in hell.
GOD HATES FALSE WORSHIP
Amos 5:21-27
21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
25 "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,
the star of your god—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,"
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.
There are many pretend Christians who come to the house of the Lord with no intent
to worship Him in spirit and truth. They are consistent in bringing an offering but without
the love of God. They come and give to please man, but not the Lord.
God hates any offering that is not given out of praise and worship to glorify the Him.
The little we give to the Lord in offering and time is nothing compared to what He
does for us daily. We have good reasons to grateful and obedient.
God wants 100 percent of our spirit, body, and soul. God is a jealous God, and will not
share us with any human being. God wants total commitment and not partial service.
God commands us to love Him first and then our neighbor as ourselves. These two
commands covers the whole law of God.
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